Hoovu & Bija
Packed by hand in kraft paper, one season at a timeA year across the page for every packet: the green bar is when to sow in Bengaluru and Pune, the coloured bar is when it flowers. Choose a month to see what can go in the ground.
10Pollinator Meadow MixEighteen annuals for bees and butterflies
₹290
12Moonlight White MixAmmi majus · Cosmos ‘Purity’ · Matricaria
₹320
Months are for Bengaluru, Pune and the Deccan plateau. On the coast sow a few weeks later; in the north, sow the cool-season packets a month earlier.Tap a name to find its packet.
Every packet belongs to one of four seasons. Choose one to see only its seeds and bulbs.
Each packet carries its botanical name, a plate of the flower and the months to sow and pick. Seeds are open-pollinated, so you can save your own.
No. 01Cool season
Eschscholzia californica
About 400 seeds · Annual · 30 cm
Sow Oct–DecFlowers Jan–Mar
Silky orange cups that open with the sun and fold up at dusk, over feathery blue-grey leaves. Happiest in a dry, sunny corner of a Bengaluru terrace.
No. 02Cool season
Calendula officinalis
About 120 seeds · Annual · 45 cm
Sow Sep–NovFlowers Dec–Mar
Double marigold-orange and lemon flowers that keep coming through the cool months. Pick often and it flowers more; the petals go into salads and oils.
No. 03Cool season
Phlox drummondii
About 250 seeds · Annual · 20 cm
Sow Oct–NovFlowers Dec–Mar
Low cushions of starry flowers in pink, rose, lilac and white. Made for the edge of a bed or a wide, shallow pot on a Pune balcony.
No. 04Monsoon
Cosmos bipinnatus
About 150 seeds · Annual · 120 cm
Sow Jun–AugFlowers Aug–Nov
Tall, airy and generous: white, pink and crimson daisies on fine leaves, flowering from the end of the rains well into November.
No. 05Monsoon
Cosmos sulphureus
About 150 seeds · Annual · 90 cm
Sow Apr–JulFlowers Jun–Nov
Semi-double flowers in yellow, tangerine and scarlet that shrug off heat and poor soil. Butterflies find them within a week.
No. 06Monsoon
Impatiens balsamina
About 100 seeds · Annual · 45 cm
Sow May–JulFlowers Jul–Oct
The old courtyard flower of the rains, with rose-like blooms tucked along the stem. Ripe pods pop when you touch them, which children love.
No. 07Bulbs
Agave amica (Polianthes tuberosa)
10 bulbs · Perennial · 90 cm
Sow Feb–AprFlowers Jul–Oct
Waxy white spikes with the scent of a wedding garland, strongest after dark. Plant the bulbs in a sunny bed and lift them every third year.
No. 08Bulbs
Gladiolus × hortulanus
12 corms · Perennial · 100 cm
Sow Oct–DecFlowers Jan–Mar
Ruffled spikes in salmon, scarlet, cream and plum. Plant a few every fortnight through the cool season for flowers into March.
No. 09Bulbs
Zephyranthes rosea
15 bulbs · Perennial · 20 cm
Sow Mar–MayFlowers Jun–Sep
Small pink trumpets that appear a day or two after the first heavy shower, as if from nowhere. Lovely along a path or crowded into a pot.
No. 10Meadow mixes
Eighteen annuals for bees and butterflies
10 g · Sows about 5 m² · Annuals
Sow Jun–Jul, Oct–NovFlowers Aug–Oct, Jan–Mar
Cosmos, zinnia, gaillardia, sunflower, tithonia and more, chosen so something is open for the bees in every week of the season.
No. 11Meadow mixes
Centaurea cyanus · Linum grandiflorum
8 g · Sows about 4 m² · Annuals
Sow Oct–NovFlowers Jan–Mar
Cornflower blue and flax red together, the colours of a field edge. Rake it into bare ground in the cool months and keep it watered until it sprouts.
No. 12Meadow mixes
Ammi majus · Cosmos ‘Purity’ · Matricaria
10 g · Sows about 5 m² · Annuals
Sow mid Oct–DecFlowers Jan–Apr
Lace flower, white cosmos and chamomile for a garden that glows at dusk. Beautiful by a seating corner, a gate or anywhere you sit in the evening.
Nothing to sow in this month and season — try another.
Most seeds want the same few things. These are the notes we write on the back of every packet.
Cover a seed with soil about twice its own depth — fine seeds like poppy and phlox are only pressed onto the surface.
Water with a fine rose every morning until the first leaves show. In Bengaluru that is usually five to ten days.
When the seedlings have their true leaves, pull the weakest so the rest stand a hand apart.
Cut flowers in the morning and keep cutting. The more you pick, the longer most annuals flower.
The library is upstairs from the flower stalls. Bring a question, a photo of your balcony or seeds of your own to swap. Write to us for a school garden, a wedding favour or a sowing plan.
We have received your order and emailed you a copy.